Orientation diving

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Orienteering diving is a competitive sport that combines elements of orienteering and fin swimming . It requires the diver to have technical understanding, as well as coordinative and conditional skills.

In Germany, this sport is mainly practiced by diving clubs in eastern Germany . Internationally the sport is mainly in Egypt , Tunisia , Colombia , Kazakhstan , Eastern Europe , but also in France , Spain , Italy , Croatia , Serbia , Estonia and Austria in diving clubs. The Confédération Mondiale des Activités Subaquatiques (CMAS) organizes the Underwater Orienteering World Championships 2011y and the open Junior European Championships in orientation diving 2011 in the Störitzsee in the municipality of Grünheide (Mark) , Brandenburg .

history

The origin of the sport is military in nature and lies in the USSR , where the first competitions took place in the 1950s. In 1961 competitions took place in Lago Maggiore and in 1962 in Wörthersee , so that Italy and Austria can be regarded as the nucleus of the spread of the sport outside of the Warsaw Pact . Accordingly, in 1965, representatives of these nations took part in the first international competitions in the Crimea alongside those from the "Eastern Bloc".

In 1967, Lake Maggiore hosted the first European Orientation Diving Championships after the CMAS recognized this sport as such. The disciplines were the M course in singles and the team competition over 2 × 1,150 m for teams of three.

In 1968 the 5-point course for individual competitions was introduced, and in 1978 the star course.

Competitive orientation diving with the help of sonar (1973–1978) was only an episode before team orientation according to map (MONK) found its way into the European and World Championship disciplines instead.

GDR postage stamp from 1985

In 1985 the 2nd world championships in orientation diving took place in Neuglobsow on the Großer Stechlinsee . This sport first became known to a wider audience through reports on television and in the press.

Orientation diving was supported in the GDR by the Society for Sport and Technology (GST), which, in accordance with its statutory duties, always saw the military aspect, especially technical sports. At that time it corresponded to the usual sports funding there.

equipment

Side view of an orientation diver
Safety buoy upside down so that the fin is visible

The equipment consists of the "OT device", which consists of a compressed air cylinder with a compass mounted and a propeller driven by the water resistance, coupled to a meter counter. The OT device is pushed in front of the body with straight arms to reduce water resistance. A special mask allows the diver to see clearly and in all directions underwater. The athlete is initially propelled with the help of special competition fins made of glass fiber laminate; experienced athletes use a monofin (similar to swimming with a flipper). This must be used by dolphin-like movement of the body. In order to make the position of the competitor visible and to be able to rescue the swimmer in emergency situations and to be able to remove him from the course when the time limit is reached, the competitor pulls a safety buoy in signal color on the surface behind him.

regulate

The basic rule is that after the start a competitor must not stick out of the water with any piece of equipment except the safety buoy. Thus he is solely dependent on his preparation, orientation and speed.

The competition area consists of a lake or other body of water in which landmarks are set. The competitors create a map of these "points" using a surveying tool . The competition management publishes a course for one run, which consists of various orientation points and has a total length of 650 m. With the help of the map, the compass course and the distance are determined for each “section” when taking a course, these are converted if necessary and carried on a note carrier.

The orientation diver swims his noted course and distance and hits the buoy when swimming straight. After a short pull on the leash, which indicates to the judges that the point has been successfully “found”, he swims on to the next point or goal.

If the "point" is not found immediately, the diver tries to find it by swimming down a search course.

If the diver does not find the "point" within a certain time ("limit time") or if he appears, he will be disqualified. Only the evaluation points achieved up to this point are included in his result.

There are courses where several landmarks have to be found one after the other. Courses on which only buoys are properly circled and then must be dived through a target line. And also combinations of buoys and landmarks.

The evaluation points all result from the accuracy and the time.

Disciplines

singles

Individual winners are determined from the sum of the points scored in the individual discipline.

  • Individual orientation according to map (Eonk)
  • M-course (turn)
  • 5 point course
  • Star course
  • Short race

team

For the team evaluation, all points scored by the team members are added up.

  • Team orientation according to map (Monk)
  • Team meeting exercise (MTÜ)
  • Team Complex Exercise (MKÜ)

competition

The best opportunity to see an orientation diver in action is one of the numerous cup competitions that are held annually in Germany. Such a competition usually extends over a whole weekend. It starts with the preparation on Friday and continues with the competitions on Saturday and Sunday.

In addition to the German cup competitions, there are annual German championships, a series of World Cups and alternating world and European championships every year. The German championships are the nomination criteria for the national team in orientation diving. Only national teams are eligible to take part in World and European Championships. Club teams also have the right to start at World Cups.

Club sport

Orientation diving is a serious sport. However, since it is quite unknown, you cannot see anything except the safety buoy and the sport is therefore not audience-friendly, it is mainly practiced as an amateur sport. In other countries, such as Russia, there are also professional orientation divers. They therefore also dominate the international competitions.

In Germany there are clubs that practice orientation diving as a competitive sport. The training is closely related to the fin swimming. According to the weather conditions, you can swim with a fin in winter and orienteering diving in summer.

Although high-performance fin swimmers have a speed advantage, amateurs also have a chance of winning if they hit the landmarks with greater precision. A large number of German orientation divers, however, are amateur athletes who have enjoyed diving and the special flair of this fringe sport .

Therefore, the fun is not too short, even if part of the race weekend performance meet and amateur athletes each other and the performance differences are large. Because due to the fact that all competitions take place outdoors, there is usually camping and barbecues . The social get-together is an integral part. For example, the organizing club organizes the first awards ceremony on the evening of the first day of the competition . Afterwards, communication is maintained in a relaxed atmosphere across team boundaries.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Orienteering World and Junior Open European Championships are under way in Berlin Störitzsee

literature

  • Manual diving, Verlag BLV, Munich - Vienna - Zurich 1996

Web links